Schumacher’s back where it all began

Michael Schumacher was back at the beginning and shone all over again yesterday as teeming rain greeted his 20th anniversary weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix

Schumacher's back where it all began

Michael Schumacher was back at the beginning and shone all over again yesterday as teeming rain greeted his 20th anniversary weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Schumacher

The 42-year-old seven-time world champion, enjoyed the irony as two decades on from his Formula One debut he topped the times in opening free practice for this Sunday's race."It was a special feeling to be out on track today for the first practice sessions of this anniversary weekend here in Spa," said Schumacher.

"A lot of things have changed here in the past 20 years, but the weather certainly hasn't." Once a huge fan of spaghetti ice cream as served just an hour down the road in his favourite cafe in his native Kerpen in Germany -- before a decade in Italy changed his tastes -- Schumacher looked perfectly at home in the typically capricious conditions.

As many drivers slithered in the downpour, Schumacher stayed cool and serene and picked one of the few dry spells in the morning session to clock the fastest time.u00a0"For me, today was another typical Spa day, with mixed conditions and very little dry running," he explained.

"The conditions meant that we couldn't do much work on the set-up, although we made the most of the limited time when the circuit was dry."Even so, it will be tricky to find the right set-up compromise for Sunday, because the weather here is always so unpredictable." Schumacher followed up his mini-success in the morning by clocking the 11th best time in the afternoon -- team-mate and compatriot Nico Rosberg was sixth. --